Final Project: The Pan-Global Syllabus

English 3923

Final Project: The Pan-Global Syllabus

INTRO: Too often, we only experience literature is ghettoized fields: English lit, American lit, and then, as if every other country doesn’t have their own lit, “World” lit. But are all American works truly alike? And if not, what does that say about the umbrella term, World Literature? Do we risk losing identity and universality when we insist on only looking at countries (which are largely 19^th and 20^th century inventions) rather than cultures, ideas, and authors? Why not simply teach classes that look for cultural and thematic connections rather than national or linguistic ones? In an age of travel and translation, does it matter what language a work was written in or where it originally came from?

PROMPT: I want you design a syllabus for a new course at ECU: I call it “Pan-Global Literature,” but you can call it whatever you like. The syllabus should combine at least THREE of the works from this class (your choice) with THREE-FOUR works from other literatures/traditions that you feel complement these works (think of other classes you’ve taken and books you’ve read in college and high school). How can you make us see how some of the works in this class pair beautifully with other American, British, or other works that we wouldn’t otherwise read together?

The SYLLABUS should be like a real syllabus: it should have you as professor, and it should have the list of readings, a list of assignments (you don’t actually have to make those!), and a calendar of readings (it can be very rough—not even day by day). But most importantly, the syllabus should include a “Course Description” which explains how the works pair together and what themes/ideas unite them. This Description should be no longer than 1-2 pages, and should be at the front of the syllabus. Try to have fun with it and make it as much like a syllabus as you can, but think about what you want your students to understand, learn, and appreciate about literature as a global phenomenon (rather than a localized, national one).

DUE ANY TIME FINAL EXAM WEEK, but no later than Friday, May 6^th by 5pm!